By Joe Daniel Football

When all your players are about the same, it is hard to know who should play what positions. And at a smaller school, it is likely some guys will have to move around during the season. Today's JDFB Quick Clinic answers a listener question from Twitter. Should you focus on teaching general football skills so that your players can play multiple posit…

Football is a game of blocking and tackling. If your defenders cannot block destruct, you have a hard time winning that game. Here's how to coach it.

Getting to the red zone is one thing, but your red zone efficiency determines how good your offense is. Nothing is more frustrating than turning the ball over on 4th down when you are knocking on the door. Do not let your offense chew up yards between the 20s then stall out when it counts. This week's JDFB Quick Clinic answers a listener question o…

Answering a listener question on the best run play and RPO combinations to run against the 3-3-5 Defense.By Joe Daniel Football

This is an alternate method of making linebacker strength calls for your defense. Find out what you should never do with your linebackers on defense.

Offenses are always looking for a new way to attack your defense. Today's listener question looks at a one of those new ways and how we have adjusted with the 4-2-5 Defense. We'll take a look at defending the Counter Read play out of a spread 2x2 formation against a 1-high Cover 3 4-2-5 Defense.By Joe Daniel Football

A big source of frustration for football coaches is keeping your athletes motivated during a long season. Or worse, during an exceptionally long off-season like many have had in 2020. This episode takes a look at the source of motivation for athletes. Find out how coaches can create a more successful environment for your football team using success…

This week's listener question asks what the best defensive front to run against a run-heavy schedule would be. Then we look at whether you should have multiple fronts in the plan, or changing the defensive front every week to match the opponent. To hear your question on the JDFB Quick Clinic, send a DM to @footballinfo on Twitter, or email joe@joed…

Defending screen passes is tough. Good offensive coordinators are setting you up all game long to hit a big screen play. It's a great way for them to get an athlete in space who's hard to bring down, too. The secret to defending screen passes starts with removing that word. Stop thinking about a screen pass as a pass. Screen plays are an extension …

No matter how good your athletes are, playing a great man coverage package takes a lot of work. Just like any other coverage you’re going to have to put in a lot of time getting the technique just right. And if you have great athletes running man coverage with poor technique, you might really be taking away from their ability. In this episode, we t…

Coaching the linebacker stance for your defense seems like such a simple thing. Feet apart, squat down, eyes up, back flat… you know the basic coaching cues. But I see a lot of coaches making just a handful of mistakes that really cost your defense. You may not even know it. The cost of mistakes in stance isn’t as obvious as bad tackling or poor ke…

I've done a lot of experimenting with different schemes, but half-slide pass protection has been the primary protection scheme in the Pistol Power Offense for several years. It just makes sense with what we do. That's the critical key. It makes sense with what we do. The protection scheme is intricately tied into the entire passing scheme. The chec…

We usually only hear the 5-3 Defense associated with youth football defense today. For coaches trying to learn the defense, it’s hard to find as much information as you might find about a 4-4 Defense. There’s great news though. This is a great defense for stopping the run at the youth level. But it’s actually being run at High School and College pr…

When they hit the football coaching scene a few years ago, defensive coordinators were scratching their heads defending RPOs. But while it's a great tool for offenses to attack, run pass options are not as mystical as they may seem. If you've got a good RPO team on your schedule this season, you don't need to panic and change your whole defense. Fo…

The force player in football is responsible for turning run plays back to the spill defenders. In this episode we define the role of the force defender and how to identify who he is in your defense. I'm also answering a listener question on the force player in the 4-3 Defense with 2-high safeties.By Joe Daniel Football

My favorite comment when we post a new 4-2-5 Defense article or podcast to the Joe Daniel Football Facebook Page has got to be, “So it’s a nickel defense ”. You got me, dude. There seems to be a small counsel of football terminology gatekeepers out there. No one knows who appointed them, or what authority they have. But they’re pretty sure they hav…

When you look at that exchange film and find out you’ll be defending a running quarterback this week, it gives you the chills. The best athlete on the field is going to have the ball in his hands on every single snap. But don’t worry. There is hope. Check out this week’s JDFB Quick Clinic for a few simple tips to prepare your defense for that tough…

Drawing up complex X's and O's on a napkin can be a lot of fun, but the best offenses often rely on very simple football plays that just plain work. Not always sexy, but they get the job done. The inspiration for this episode was a conversation on our private Chalk Board Forum for JDFB Coaching Systems clients about some simple football plays for a…